Coin collection box



' United States Patent [72] Inventor Harlan Knox Peri-ill 359 S. Westgate Ave., Los Angeles, California 90049 [21] Appl. No. 715,595

[22] Filed March 25,1968

[45] Patented Nov. 24, 1970 [54] COIN COLLECTION BOX 2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 232/1,

232/59 [51] Int. Cl ..G07b 15/00 [50] Field of Search 232/1.

1.4, 16.15. 30, 32, 32, 24, 21. 57, 58, 59. 25, 26, 27. 48. 47; 221/(Consulted); l94/(Consulted) Primary Exam iner- Francis K. Zugel Atlorney-Whann & Mc Manigal ABSTRACT: The invention is a coin collection box or receptacle for use in parking lots to receive deposits of coins of individuals parking vehicles in the lots. The box or receptacle contains coin-receiving means in the form of chutes associated with slots, the individual chutes being manipulatable to discharge coins into a vault or strong box in the bottom of the receptacle. The device possesses the characteristic of versatility in that the coin-receiving chutes can be set by way ofa latch bar to either retain the coins to be manually dumped after in spection; to cause them to be automatically dumped when they accumulate; or permit them to immediately transfer into the coin vault as they are deposited.

Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Sheet INVENTOR HAEAA/k/ m/ox PZE/LL A 770EA/6V5 1 'corN COLLECTION Box SUMMARY OF THE'INVENTION The invention is an improvedcoin collection box or recep tacle for use on parking lots or the like wherein patrons deposit coins in slots in the box. The invention is particularly adapted for this use and the invention as described herein is manifested in this particular form, although it is not necessarily limited to this use and utility.

The invention will be best understood after a brief resume ofthe present state ofthe art.

A presently known type of collection box is one having inside of it a plexiglass, compartmented container, each compartment having a slot registering with one of the slots in the outside of the box in which coins are inserted. The plexiglass container is locked, and it is removable from the outside'box or receptacle to be taken tothe proprietors office to be opened there for removal ofmoney. The box or receptacle has a door which can be opened to inspect the compartmented plexiglass container to check-to see which compartments have coins in them, indicating that someone parking in the corresponding stall has paid. This type of arrangement is suitable for all-day parking, without an attendant, and for that period of time between the time when the plexiglass box is removed by an attendant, replaced by another one, and return of the attendant.

Another type of receptacle or box is a metal box with a hinged door with slots in the door. Inside the box is a container having compartments in an egg-crate configuration. The compartmented container is pivotally mounted; that is, it is suspended on pivots so that it can be manipulated, pulled out, that is, to cause the coins to fall out of the compartments and down into the bottom of the box. The container is then reset. With this type of box, coins discharged into the bottom'are collected by the attendant to be delivered to the proprietor.

The prior art boxes or receptacles referred to above are subject to certain deficiencies. One isthat the proprietor must rely upon the honesty and integrity of his attendant for collection and delivery of the money to the proprietor.

Another deficiency is that these boxes lack the necessary versatility to accommodate to different modes of operation.

The primary object of the herein invention is to provide a box or receptacle which completely overcomes the deficiencies referred to above, and furthermore to provide the necessary versatility to readily accommodate to different modes or types of operation.

A particular object of this invention is to provide a receptacle or box of the type referred to which provides the feature that the coins are discharged into a coin vault.

A further object is to provide a coin collection receptacle of the type referred to having coin collection means therein and also a coin vault or strong box with means for manipulating the coin collection means to cause the coins to be discharged into the strong box or vault.

Another object is to provide a receptacle as in the foregoing objects wherein the coin collection means are in the form of individual pivoted chutes simultaneously manually actuatable to discharge coins into the box; i.e., the vault.

Another object is to provide a receptacle as in the foregoing embodying a manually actuatable latch bar settable into different positions to accommodate the receptacle to' different modes of operation, including operation, that is, a mode wherein the coins are discharged into the vault by manual actuation; a mode of operations wherein they automatically discharge into the vault upon the accumulation of the weight of the coins; and a mode of operation wherein the coins are immediately discharged from the chutes into the vault.

Further objects and additional advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and annexed drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective exterior view of the preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the device of the invention with the hinged door open;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are detail views showing a modified form of manually actuatable latch bar in three different positions thereof.

Referring now to the various figures of the drawings, FIG. I is a view of the preferred form of box or receptacle which is a rectilinear box, as shown at 10. It has a hinged door 12 at the front movable about a piano hinge 14, as shown in FIG. 5. It is mounted on an upright post 16. In the back wall of the box are coin slots 18 associated with coin collection means on the inside, as will be described. Numeral 20 designates the exterior part of a T-shaped latch bar which will be described in more detail presently. The bar part of the latch bar fits between two 90 angle brackets, one of which is shown at 22 at one at 23, and it may be locked to them and secured by way of a padlock, as shown at 24.

The interior of the coin collection box or receptacle is shown in detail in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5. Mounted within the receptacle 10 are a plurality of coin collection receptacles in the form of chutes, one of them being designated at 30. These chutes are mounted in horizontal and vertical rows as may be seen in FIG. 5. The horizontal rows are pivotally mounted on transverse rods, one of which is designated at 32 and one at 34. The ends of these rods are journaled in upright members 36 and 38 as may be seen in FIG. 3 having right angle parts 40 and 42 which are parallel to front and back walls ofthe receptacle 10, and which are attached to the sidewalls by way of angle brackets 44 and 46 which are welded or brazed to the inside of the side (or end) walls 50 and 52 ofthe receptacle.

The chute 30 as shown in FIG. 5 is U-shaped in cross section and is open at the ends. Its rear end is aligned with one of the slots 18 in the back wall of the receptacle 10 so that upon deposit of a coin through the slot it is received in the chute. The front end ofthe chute is slightly beveled as shown at 54.

Directly in front of all of the chutes is a fairly thick transparent plexiglass panel 58, the ends of which are secured to the angle parts 42 and 44 ofthe members 36 and 38 and to the angle brackets 44 and 46. This securement is by way of plates 62 and 64, the end parts of the panel 58 being secured between these plates and the angle portions 40 and 42 of the uprights 36 and 38, and the angle brackets 44 and 46 by way of bolts, one of which is designated by the numeral 70. Each chute is associated with one of the coin slots in the back of the receptacle. The chutes are alike. The contents of the chutes can be observed through the transparent panel 58, but access cannot be had to them.

The chutes are manually actuatable or manipulatable to discharge the coins therein so that they drop down to be received in a strong box or vault in the lower part of the receptacle 10 as will be described.

This vault or receptacle is designated generally at 73 in the FIGS. being rectilinear in form and resting on base 74 which extends forwardly and rearwardly to fit against the front and back walls of the receptacle 10. It has a top 76 in which is a slot or opening 77. Associated with the opening 77 is a fixed chute 80 positioned to receive coins discharged from the chutes 30 so that they are received in the vault 73. Numeral 82 designates a baffle member in front of the chute 80 extending downwardly from the transverse panel 84 which is between the uprights 36 and 38. The manner of manually actuating the chutes 30 will be described presently.

The bottom 74 of the vault is positioned over inwardly extending flanges on the back wall 89 of the receptacle 10 and on the end walls as shown at 88. Attached to the back wall of the receptacle 10 is an angle bracket 90 having an inwardly extending flange 92 which fits over the top of the bottom wall 74 of the vault 73. Similar angle brackets are provided on the end walls. The vault 73 has a removable front panel designated at 100. In this front panel are two key-operated locks 102 and 104. These locks are alike. The body of the lock 102 extends through an opening in the panel and is secured thereto in a conventional manner. The lock operates or drives through its stem .106, a locking member 108 which is attached to an actuating member 110 cooperating with two locking pins 112 and 114. The locking pin 112 extends from the base 74 and the locking pin 114 extends from the top 76 of the vault 73. When the lock 102 is unlocked, its stem 106 can actuate the locking members to clear the locking pins 112 and 1.14. When both locks are unlocked, the front panel 100 can be removed to provide access to the vault 73.

Referring again to the chute 30, numeral 126designates a transverse rod which extends through the rear part of all of the chutes like the chute 30 in the top horizontal row. The ends of this rod extend through spacers 128 and 130 which are adjacent to the ends of uprights 132 and 134 in which the ends of the rod are journaled. There is a transverse rod corresponding to the rod 126 extending through the rear parts of all of the chutes in each horizontal row, as may be seen in FIG, 2. Thus, it may be seen that by manipulating the uprights 132 and 134, all of the chutes can be simultaneously pivotally actuated about the transverse rods or stems, such as shown at 32 and 34 to tilt the chutes so that their front ends move far enough away front the transparent panel 58 so that the coins are discharged therefrom and caused to drop down onto the chute 80 and to be discharged into the opening or slots 77 in the vault 73.

Means are provided to manually operate or manipulate the chutes to discharge the coins into the vault so that the attendant can do this after he has inspected the chutes to determine who has paid and then the vault 73 can be removed and delivered to the proprietor. Each slot in the back of the receptacle 11) is, of course, associated with a particular parking stall, in the exemplary form of th invention being described.

In FIG. 2, numeral 140 designates amanual actuator bar which is angular in cross section and the intermediate part of which is journaled on stem 142 extending from the end of the vault 32. A similar manually actuatable bar is provided at the other end of the vault 73, and similarly mounted thereon as shown at 141. The lowermost transverse rod extending between the uprights 132 and 134 is designated at 144 and is in a position above the inner ends of the manual actuator bars 140 and 141. As may be observed, the operator can open the door 12 of the receptacle providing access to the front ends of the actuator bars 140 and 141. Simply by pressing down on them, their inner ends engage and lift the uprights 132 and 134; and simultaneously actuate all of the chutes to cause the coins to be dumped and to fall down onto the chute 80 and to be discharged into the vault 73.

Referring again to the latch bar 20 which is a T-bar, as described, it is positioned between the angle brackets 22 and 23 and extends through a slot 150 in the back of the receptacle 10, as shown. It may be positioned in different ways to accommodate the receptacle to different modes or types of operation. In the position shown in FIG. 2, it is positioned above the transverse rod 144 so that in this position it is not possible to manipulate or dump the chutes to discharge the coins from them so that they are retained in a position where the coins in each chute can be observed through the panel 58. The padlock 24 is for preventing tampering with the latch bar 20. It may ofcourse, be removed entirely so that the attendant may, at any time when the front door is open, manipulate to discharge the coins into the vault. It may also be positioned so that it is underneath the transverse rod 144 so that the chutes are held in a position with their front edges spaced far enough from the panel 58 so that the coins when deposited will fall through and immediately be conveyed to the vault 73. The latch bar 20 makes it possible to accommodate the device to the three different modes ofoperation described in the foregoing. The third mode is that when the latch bar is kept out, the

money will accumulate in the chutes until the weight of coins causes them to automatically be dumped.

On the inside of the door 12 there is provided a compartment 152 whichis in back ofa slot 154 in door 12. This compartment is adapted to receive small envelopes containing money deposited by patrons who have previously failed to pay for parking and are making payment in this way for previously owing fees. The front door of the receptacle can be locked or secured by padlock 156 which locks through a hole in an extending bracket 157 which passes through an opening or slot 158 in the door when it is closed. In lieu of a padlock, a cam lock integrally installed in the door 12 and engaging an interior catch on the side of the receptacle 10, can be used to lock the door 12.

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show a modified form oflatch bar which is entirely within the receptacle 11 and which accommodates itself to the three modes of operation referred to above.

The latch bar is designated at 1611 in these FIGS. having the three positions shown. The latch bar is mounted on and is slidable along the manually actuatable member 1411. A similar latch bar may, of course, be provided for the other member 141. The latch bar 160 is angular in cross section and has an angle part 162 that slides on the bar 140. It has slots 16? and 166 in it that cooperate with screws 168 and 1711. The latch bar has a transverse lug or finger 172 which in the position of FIG. 6 latches over the top of the vault 73 so that in this position the bar cannot be tilted into a position for manipulating the chutes to dump. In order to dump the chutes, the latch bar has to be moved outwardly. The latch bar has an offset part 174 including an extending finger 176 which can be positioned below or above the transverse rod 144. When the latch bar 160 is slid outwardly, the finger 176 can be moved away from the transverse rod 1% and then the two actuators 140 and 141 can be tilted as previously described for causing the chutes to dump. A latch bar like 1611 can be provided on both the actuators 140 and 141. The member 160 has an upturned rear part 182 which can be engaged by the finger for sliding the member. When it is pulled outwardly lug 172, does not latch over the vault. In the position of FIG. 6, the finger 176 locks over the bar 144 and tilting of the chutes is positively prevented.

In the position of FIG. 7, the latch bar 161) is retracted into a position in which the member 140 can be tilted in the manner previously described for actuating the uprights 134 and 132 for causing the chutes to dump. If the latch bar or bars 161 is (are) left in this position, the coin chutes automatically dump in response to accumulated weight.

In the position of FIG. 8, the finger 176 is positioned underneath the transverse rod 144 so that the member 1411 is held in the position shown, being limited by the stop 1811. In this position, the uprights 132 and 134 are held so that the inner ends of the chutes 30 are held spaced from the panel 58 so that the chutes are sufficiently spaced; that is, opened to allow the coins to immediately pass down and into the vault 73.

From the foregoing, those skilled in the art will readily understand the nature and construction of the invention and the manner in which it is used. The manner in which the foregoing objects and advantages are realized and achieved will be readily apparent, as well as the many additional advantages that are obvious from the detailed description.

The foregoing disclosure is representative of preferred forms of the invention, and is to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than in a limiting sense, the invention to be accorded the full scope ofthe claims appended hereto.

Iclaim:

1. A receptacle adapted for the collection of coins, comprising: a container having collection receptacle means therein adapted to receive coins inserted through slot means in the container; a separately openable coin vault within the container below the coin collection means having a coin receiving opening; manually actuatable means within the container for manipulating the coin collection receptacle means to cause coins collected therein to be discharged and be received into the said coin vault through said opening, a latch bar carried by said actuating means; means providing for movement of the latch bar relative to the actuating means to a position preventing coin discharge from the coin collection receptacle means; and said means also providing for positioning the latch bar to allow manipulation of the manually actuatable means to discharge the coins from the coin collection receptacle means.

for positioning of said latch bar to hold the coin collection receptacle means in a position wherein the coins automatically discharge from the coin collection means to be received in the coin vault. 

